Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1887-01-14
say this to comfort you, Elisha,
for | am married and do not care.
Bill Me- in Boston Globe.
THE SPREADING OF EYE DISEASES.

4 writer in the current issue of
the Medical and Surgical Report
relates how eye diseases spread and
much Of this it is important the
public should know.
The writer says: "TO mention
few of the modes of cOntaglOn |
have to speak, in the first place, of
towels, especially Of that abOmlna-
ble institution known as the roller
towel, which has been used so much
in asylums where forty, fifty or
more children nse the same tow
el, whether they have granu-
lar lids or not. True, in great
many of these cases the existence
of granular lids was not known ;
but even in cases in which the eX-
istence of the disease was evident
the ignorance or carelessness of
the persons in charge has allowed
transmission by means of towels to
be one of the most frequent
sources of contagion. As carrier
of contagion the hOuse-hy plays an
important role, especially in cases
of young children, who are not
able to protect themselves against
the visit of this little animal. At
tracted by the sweetish odor of the
discharge it will settle upon the
eyes of the children affected by the
disease, especially infants, and car
ry the contagiOn in its claws to the
other eye or the eye of sleeping
infants"
"Spectacles," he added, "may be
the carrier of the cOntagion. L
remember the case of young lady
who could not explain satisfactorily
how she came to have granular
lids. Upon her return to school
she mentioned that she had granu'
| lar lids, whereupon one OF her
classmates said: "Why that is the
| disease which ] have been suffering
from for the last six months" This
classmate was near.sighted and
used glasses. Ny patient was also
near.sighted, bur had not used
glasses, and whenever she wanted
to see anything at a distance she
was in the habit of borrowing the
spectacles of her friend, and there
is no doubt in my mind that this
was the means OF carrying the pol
son from the classmates eyes TO
my patients eye
Children with granular lids are
very apt to rub their eyes, because
the secretion as it begins to dry on
the edge of the lids causes an lrrl-
tating, itching sensation. They
will now play with other Children
and from their hands transfer the
poison to the hands Of the other
children, and these latter, rubbing
their eyes, contract the disease.
Handling objects which have
been used by persons with granular
lids may be the means of carrying
: contagion. A young lady who
, volunteered to teach children al
fected with granular lids that had
been isolated from other children
! in a certain institution, was warned
4 TO be extremely careful with regard
e 70 using handkerchiefs, towels OF
| anything belonging to the children
G She was we'll aware OF the danger
and promised to be very careful
h She handled nothing whatever, she
f said, that belonged to the children
2 left her cloaks outside, and in class
j. room kept away from the children
;. a distance of five or six feet. Bu'
n upon examination of her eyes lour
!, teen days after she had taken office
s il was found that she began to SUI
= fer from granular lids Upon IN
n ouiry | found that she had beer
t taking the copybooks and states o
L tbe children for correction, and II
all pro liability she got the poison
from the slate and books on hel
hands. and then conveyed it to he
| eyes. .oo.;on :,
the same ms titution was more care
ful; she sim ply walked into tn
classroom. did not touch anything
belonging to the children, and 10
two or three mon tbs during the du
J ration of the epidemic she was no
> affected by the disease. Inc al
mosphere had evidently not bee
> the carrier of the coutaglon III u"
= first case.